What parts of Boston, and Chicago areas (city or surrounding burbs) remind you of Staten Island? (middle-class)

[SIJ95]

Staten Island is where I grew up and I love it. It's essentially middle class suburbs that run the gamut from lower middle class to gigantic mansions. It doesn't have a lot of out of state transplants and most of the residents are natives who came from (or their parents came from) more urban parts of the city and wanted a single family or townhome at a decent price and good public schools while not going too far from home. We have a lot of European ethnic culture with lots of 1st/2nd/3rd generation Italians and Irish Americans as well as immigrants from those countries. We also have a lot of Orthodox Jews. We are known for having the strongest accents in NYC.

When I speak of Staten Island I am only thinking of the parts south of the expressway, north of the expressway by the ferry is more like the other boroughs being a lot more urban with higher crime, also more buldings as opposed to homes and larger minority populations. I think that area can be compared to any inner city area and isn't unique and not what people think of when imagining Staten Island.


What parts of Boston and Chicago area is most like Staten Island, in your opinion?

[SIJ95]

anyone?

[missionhill]

I know you asked on the Boston forum and got some answers. I've spent some time on S. I. and it doesn't really remind me of anything in Boston; the housing is so totally different. But there may be some good comparisons. One thing is the Staten Island streets are more like Boston than the rest of NYC-- kind of unplanned, no grid, and over capacity. I think of S. I. below the expressway as pretty Italian and around Boston there are still Italians in places like Revere and Saugus, maybe Malden too. Like S. I., there's ocean waterfront and greenbelt-like park land in the uplands (Breakheart Reservation, Lynn Woods). There's also a big wetland/marsh area but, unlike Fresh Kills, they didn't fill it all in with municipal garbage. Revere and Saugus are lower-middle and middle-class like S. I. Revere Beach used to be the Coney Island of Boston but they demolished all the rides years ago. Still there's a big scene there in the summer time, more than any of the S. I. beaches. But the waves are gentle, like South Beach, although the water is cleaner and colder. I wouldn't discount the north side of S. I.; it has some of the best old neighborhoods, the views over the harbor, and the Snug Harbor complex is really great.

Here's Milano Ave in Revere-- this could be a street in Staten Island. https://www.google.com/maps/@42.4242...1IvOnbpOTQ!2e0

[Hans Bueller]

The far NW side of Chicago(Edison Park,Norwood Park)would share a lot of similarities with Staten Island.